May 24, 2007
Hoover, Ala. – Arkansas starting pitcher Jess Todd struck out the first nine batters he faced on his way to an SEC Tournament record 17 strikeouts in eight innings as the Razorbacks defeated South Carolina 6-0 on Thursday evening on day two of the SEC Tournament at Regions Park. Arkansas improves to 40-18 while the loss drops Carolina to 41-17 on the year. The Gamecocks return to action on Friday afternoon in an elimination game at 4 pm ET against Florida. The game will be televised live on SportSouth in the state of South Carolina and outside of South Carolina, the game will be televised on FSN South in every state except for North Carolina. The game can also be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network.
Todd put up the most impressive performance of the SEC Tournament on the mound, as he limited Carolina to two hits and just one walk while striking out 17 batters. He is now 9-2 on the year. Carolina starting pitcher Arik Hempy worked five innings and allowed five runs, four earned, on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks to suffer his second straight loss. He is 5-3 on the year.
Arkansas broke ahead 2-0 on the Gamecocks in the bottom of the first inning. Ben Tschepikow had a one-out infield single and Casey Coon was hit by a pitch to give the Hogs a pair of runners. With two outs, Logan Forsythe laced a single to left field that scored Tschepikow. On the play, left fielder Cheyne Hurst’s throw went past Carolina catcher Trent Kline to give the Hogs a pair of runners on second and third base. It would help the Razorbacks get an unearned run as an infield single from Danny Hamblin scored Coon for a two-run Arkansas cushion. Forsythe extended the Razorback lead to 5-0 in the third inning as he knocked a three-run homer to left field off of Hempy. Arkansas tagged Carolina reliever Wynn Pelzer for the other run in the sixth inning as Sean Jones drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice and scored on Casey Coon’s two-out RBI single to right field.
The rest of the game belonged to Todd as he kept the Gamecocks at bay and off the scoreboard. Carolina looked to score in the fourth inning with runners on first and third with one out but he was able to get out of the jam with strikeouts to Disher and Kline to end the frame. South Carolina also looked to score in the ninth inning against Arkansas reliever Travis Hill with a pair of runners and outs but he was able to get a double play ball and a fly-out to preserve the Razorback shutout.
Thursday’s loss marked only the second shutout of the year against the Gamecocks. Travis Jones had two of the three hits for the Gamecocks at the plate. Forsythe was 3-for-3 with four RBI and Coon also went 3-for-3 to lead the Arkansas offense that finished with a 10-3 advantage in hits.
